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Life event
"What walks on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three at dusk?"" :"A human, who crawls on all fours at birth, walks on two legs during youth, and leans on a cane during old age." - Planescape: Torment, from the Riddle of the Sphinx of Greek mythology, answered by Oedipus Life changes are the most emotional events of human life: birth, relationships, breakups, marriage, death of family members and friends Wikipedia:Template:Psychology sidebar The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule is a psychological measurement of the stressfulness of life events. It was created by Brown and Harris in 1978. Instead of accumulating the stressfulness of different events, as was done in the Social Readjustment Rating Scale by Holmes and Rahe , they looked at individual events in detail. The schedule is made up of an interview by which as much contextual information around the event as possible is collected. The event is then rated by "blind" raters using this contextual information. Critics of this method note the fact that the impact of the independent variable, the event itself, is measured by evaluating it using mediating and moderating variables. Emotional baggage Emotional baggage is an everyday expression that correlates with many varied but similar concepts within social sciences, self-help movements, and other fields: its general concern is with unresolved issues of an emotional nature, often with an implication that the emotional baggage is detrimental.Emotional baggage Invariably, it is rooted in life events. As a metaphorical image, it is that of carrying all the disappointments, wrongs, and trauma of the past around with one in a heavy load.Arnie Kozak, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants (2010) p. 57 Adult life In adult life, emotional baggage comes to the fore in relationships in two main forms. There is firstly the (often negative) expectations created by previous relationships, perhaps of an abusive nature - a kind of bondage to the past that can contaminate new and potentially more positive interactions.Otto Hines, Why Women Act Out (2011) p. 29-30 This may be particularly apparent in a second marriage, where in Wikipedia:Virginia Satir's words, “shadows from the past are very real and must be dealt with by the new marital pair”.Virginia Satir, Peoplemaking (1978) p. 181 In the second place, however, there may be a recurrent bringing-up of the past history of the current relationship, with the result that minor problems in the present become overloaded by negative currents from earlier times which cannot be resolved or set aside for good.Joseph J. Luciani, Reconnecting (2009) p. 37 Childhood Behind adult problems, however, there may be deeper forms of emotional baggage rooted in the experiences of childhood, but continuing to trouble personality and behaviour within the adult.G. Kim Blank, Wordsworth and Feeling (1995) p. 11 Men and women may be unable to leave the pain of childhood behind, and look to their partners to fix this, rather than to address more adult concerns.Laura Schlessinger, Ten Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives (1998) p. 165-6 Cultural and parental expectations, and patterns of behaviour drawn from the family of origin and stilll unconsciously carried around, will impact on a new marriage in ways neither partner may be aware of.Theodore W. Schwartz, Clearing the Landmines of Marriage (2002) p. 155 Similarly, as parents, both sexes may find their own childhood pasts hampering their efforts at more constructive child-rearing,Aletha Solter, Raising Drug-Free Kids (2006) p. 21 whether they repeat, or seek to overcompensate for, parental patterns of the past.Neville Symington, Narcissism: A New Theory (London 2003) p. 75 Wikipedia:Psychotherapy addresses such emotional baggage of the client under the rubric of Wikipedia:transference,P. L. Myers/N. R. Salt, Becoming an Addictions Counsellor (2002) p. 252 exploring how early development can create an internalised 'working mode' through which all subsequent relationships are viewed;J. Grant/J. Crawley, Transference and Projection (2002) p. 95 while the concept of Wikipedia:countertransference on the therapist's part acknowledges that they too can bring their own emotional baggage into the analytic relationship.Pamela Thurschwell, Sigmund Freud (2009) p. 39 Literary examples * In Wikipedia:From Dead to Worse the heroine gives her boyfriend the push on realising that his first priority will always be caring for his half-mad were-tiger mother: '"He had too much baggage....Gosh, I never thought I'd catch myself saying that. Especially considering my own"'.Charlaine Harris, From Dead to Worse (2009) p. 239 See also Further reading Academic articles * Patenaude AF Emotional Baggage: Unresolved Grief, Emotional Distress, Risk Perception, and Health Beliefs and Behaviors 2005 * Wikipedia:Joseph LeDoux, 'Indelibility of Subcortical Emotional Memories', Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (1989) vol 1 238-43 Books * Dwoskin H Sedona Method: How to Get Rid of Your Emotional Baggage and Live the Life You Want (2005) * Famoriyo G Overcoming Emotional Baggage: A Woman's Guide to Living the Abundant Life (2006) * Famoriyo G Overcoming Emotional Baggage for Small Groups (2009) * Felder L A fresh start: how to let go of emotional baggage and enjoy your life again (1987) External links * Losing Your Emotional Baggage References Category:EmotionCategory:Emotional issuesCategory:Human life Category:Life choicesCategory:Life skillsCategory:Personal life Category:Popular psychologyCategory:Stress